DWP should keep targeting benefit fraud gangs – not disabled people and carers

8 comments

1. IHere in Japan benefits are limited. I received 6 months of unemployment pay, and nothing else. Physical Disabled benefits exist , but they vary between areas and are checked yearly.

   The UK, my home Country, appears to offer very generous benefits in comparison, and as such fraud is rife. However that doesn’t mean they can’t be fairer towards really disabled people.

2. Reality is disabled are a minority so we are an easy target for the government..
   I’m paralysed after an accident , I claim PIP and was getting £495 pm .
   It’s now been reduced to £365 pm .. seems fair eh my electric alone is £250 ish pm .
   Had to cancel my DD as when it was really cold they took £400 one month , I couldn’t afford food etc . I live in my overdraft .

3. Both can be true. I have some sympathy for Vivienne Groom but the fact of the matter is she received money she was not entitled to due in no fault of the DWP and it was hardly £50. When she came into the money it was quite right that it was siezed, she now won’t have to pay the £30 a week. All is fair.

4. It’s disgusting but the truth is that it has always been easier to vilify those claiming ANY benefit than to route out those abusing the system.

   All this shows is that the DWP simply do not do the job they are employed to do. How the hell did these claims get granted without face to face assessments.

   Pip etc should require input from the persons GP/Consultant etc.

5. I wish as much effort was put into stopping tax dodging.

6. > However, how different this is from the tragic case of Vivienne Groom who was prosecuted for failing to declare her minimum wage Co-op job while caring for her mother. Ms Groom is an example of a case where any unintended overpayment should be written off, not prosecuted

   What the fuck kind of statement is that. If someone is defrauding the government they don’t deserve it written off, even if it’s an “accident” they’re still benefitting.

   > Groom initially agreed to pay the DWP £16,800 in monthly instalments of £30, but when she stood to inherit £16,000 from her mother, the government decided to seize it.

   So they gave this woman almost 17k, and they HAD basically written it off, as they gave her 47 years to pay it off… Then it actually makes the news that she had to pay it back when she inherits money? It’s got to be ragebait.

7. More likely they will get a puny sentence then stay here, or if they are sent back to Bulgaria they’ll come back and do this again

8. An accident still makes it benefit fraud. Refusing to return the money or stalling definitely makes it benefits fraud.